Second Battle of Kageshima
This article is about the . For a list of other battles around or inside the city, see Battle of Kageshima. Marcus Sarillius |commander2= Mardük Keiichi Arashi Masamori Hyuga }} The Second Battle of Kageshima was the final battle of the Great War in 1006 AE. It took place outside Kageshima, the capital of Yamato, and was fought between the Grand Alliance and the combined forces of the Yamato Empire and the Clergy of Mardük. The battle ended in a draw as various events of the Cataclysm suddenly took place and interrupted the battle in a brutal manner. Background : Main article: First Battle of Vulpengaard Keep The Grand Alliance had won the Battle of Vulpengaard Keep a few days earlier, and the path to the Yamatian heartlands was finally open. The soldiers of the Alliance wanted to avenge the death of King Kagetsu II of Maar Sul, and King Marcus Sarillius planned to use his soldiers' rage to his advantage. Marcus led his forces straight to Kageshima, the capital of Yamato. This act took both the Yamatians and the Clergy of Mardük completely by surprise as they did not expect the army of the Alliance to move so soon after the death of one of the Alliance's highest-ranking commanders, King Kagetsu II. Battle The Yamatians had not bothered to build defenses around Kageshima as they assumed that the Grand Alliance would never reach the city. It did not take long for them to realize that they had been mistaken, and the Yamatian forces grouped hastily in front of the city. They could not endure a siege because their supply routes were now cut off and their remaining supplies were running low, so they had to finish the battle quickly. The clerics of Mardük remained behind the walls of Kageshima to cast spells. However, they were not so enthusiastic anymore because they had heard news of their leader Distreyd Thanadar XII's death in Vulpengaard Keep. The Yamatian army was led by General Keiichi Arashi and due to the lack of competent officers, he appointed Captains Nobuo Iwasaki and Samachi Nomura to act as his closest lieutenants. Although Arashi was a competent and respected general, he too realized that he was not facing some random rebel militia anymore. The army of the Grand Alliance had turned into skilled veterans who had won many battles over the course of the Great War and wanted to avenge Kagetsu II's death. Arashi's own forces were growing thinner, and he knew that help from other provinces would not arrive in time. He hoped to at least end the battle in a draw so that he could negotiate a suitable deal that would keep most of his men alive. However, the Yamatian general had underestimated his opponents' thirst for vengeance. He was led into an ambush and surrounded, and he and his forces had to fight their way out. Just as he was about to reach the safety of Kageshima, he confronted none other than King Marcus who challenged him to a duel. The two men fought a spectacular battle worthy of any legend, but in the end Marcus prevailed although it was a close call. Seeing their commander fall, the remaining Yamatians fled into Kageshima and barricaded themselves inside, not wanting to face the bloodthirsty Alliance. It seemed that the Alliance had won as they prepared to storm the battered city, but then something unexpected happened. Mardük, the God of Chaos, appeared with a few other dark gods. While both the forces of the Alliance and Yamato were awed by this sight, the God of Chaos used the confusion to his advantage and opened up a portal to the Demon Realm. Countless demons poured out of the portal and attacked the shocked forces of the Alliance who had not expected such a dramatic turn of events. The Yamatians and the clerics of Mardük joined the fray, boosted by Mardük's arrival and now certain of turning the tide of the battle. When all hope seemed lost, Cardia and the good gods appeared to even things out. The ancient archrivals, Cardia and Mardük, charged at one another, ready to finally put an end to their eternal conflict: whoever won this battle would rule the Land of the Living forever. It seemed that an ancient prophecy about the war of the gods had finally come true, but fate would still have one nasty surprise in store for both the forces of Darkness and Light. Aftermath : Main article: Cataclysm The epic battle ended abruptly when a powerful, winged being appeared all of a sudden and devoured both Cardia and Mardük. The demons began running amok as Mardük was not around to command them anymore, and the terrible being, which would be known as the Godslayer, attacked both the armies of the Alliance and Yamato with equal ferocity. King Marcus was lost in the chaos, and the survivors of the Grand Alliance retreated quickly from Yamato, leaving the remaining Yamatians and clerics of Mardük to fend for themselves in the demon onslaught. The Yamatian commanders Nobuo Iwasaki and Samachi Nomura would part ways and retreat, but they would live through these horrible events and begin working for different goals in the World of Ruin. The Godslayer's appearance and the deaths of the two powerful gods caused a huge rift in magic which led to a terrible catastrophe, the Cataclysm, and kickstarted the Age of Emptiness. The Great War which had devastated many nations had finally come to an end but with a terrible cost, and the dark prophecy about the war of the gods causing misery to the world had been fulfilled. Casualties *Cardia *Mardük *Keiichi Arashi *Masamori Hyuga See also *Cataclysm *First Battle of Kageshima *First Battle of Vulpengaard Keep *Great War Kageshima Kageshima Category:Third Age Category:Yamato